


Switcheroo

by EmmaLuLuChu



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-15
Updated: 2013-05-12
Packaged: 2017-12-05 09:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/721721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaLuLuChu/pseuds/EmmaLuLuChu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Pitch gifts the children of the world with snow days and frost, while Jack brings nightmares and shadows. Based off a picture seen on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New York's Protector

**Author's Note:**

> So this is an AU I came up with, inspired by that Jack Black/Pitch Frost picture that went around a Tumblr (With the black hair and all yeah?) so I got inspired and made this fanfiction! There is more to come, and I'm always open to any suggestions anybody has!

Snow fell lightly in the cityscape, covering trees and the sidewalks far below in a white dusting. Kids happily running up and down the concrete, catching the flakes on their tongues, taking some snow off the ground and throwing them in the air again, and trying to make snowballs of the powdery substance only to fail and throw powder at each other.

Pitch stood atop a building, watching the children carefully, standing at ease as he noted how much darker it was getting. The kids were slowly being corralled into their homes, talks of how much more fun they'd have tomorrow, once the snow got a chance to really pile up, and Pitch smiled. He'd make sure to make the snow falling slightly thicker- more packable to make snowballs and igloos and all the other wonderful stuff they enjoyed.

He started to do just that, when out of the corner of his eye something black shoot past the building he was perched upon, and he looked just in time to see it disappear into a window that had trusty Sandman's gold sand seeping into. There was only one spirit he thought of as he had the wind take him to the window that would do this.

He settled down on the fire escape and looked into the room. Two occupants lay resting inside, one a 10-year-old blonde girl and a two-year-old baby boy in a crib. The stream of gold separated into two, going to each sleeping child. Bunny and dog faces danced around the little boy, happily sucking on his thumb. the girl was wrapped in a comforter, and her dreams depicted herself, the baby, and who he assumed was her father and mother. He guessed it was a memory of some sort, because he knew the mother was no longer there. He particularly liked this city so he came often, and he'd watched this girl grow from three-years-old. Around a year ago her mother left for unknown reasons, but it tore her up inside. Every time she'd toss and turn too much in her sleep, he blew some cool air in that was enough to jolt her awake, and get her on a track to some decent sleep.

But tonight was different.

Crouching by her bed was a boy- looking to be eighteen- dressed all in black, a shepherd's hook loosely in his grasp. He reached the staff up and was about to touch it to the sand when Pitch couldn't take it any more.

"Of all the children to choose tonight, Jack."

The shadow jolted and looked over his shoulder, bright yellow eyes meeting bright blue, and he jumped up, holding his staff out in front of him in case of an attack.

"I-I'm not looking for trouble, I-I just follow the fear to where it takes me-"

"But why her? She has already been through enough."

He slipped in and towered above the shadow, the other flinching and scampering to the other side of the room, jumping up and perching on top of his hook.

"You know how it-it i-is for me. Just doing my job."

He frowned at the hooded figure, the full blackness interrupted by the specks of yellow, and used his own staff to gesture.

"I have seen her grow up, her mother ran away and she still is not over it yet. This is the best I've seen her sleep, and I care not for your job. I do not fear you, I will not hesitate to strike."

The shadow was silent until a chuckle escaped him, adjusting to a more comfortable position on his staff.

"What good will it do? You know she won't see you- just like everybody else."

Pitch winced at the jab- because of the truth behind it.

They all walked through him, adult, teen, child, everybody. No matter what he did, nobody was ever going to believe in Pitch Frost.

Another brutal truth was that Jack Black was in the same position, he used to be believed in during the Dark Ages until the Guardians came about. They were equals in their work, and most of the time they tolerated each other- but Pitch refused to let Jack feed on the fear in her heart.

They stared each other down, neither refusing to move.

A gurgle from the crib distracted the frost for a split second, but it was enough time for the shadow.

He leaped from his perch, taking the staff with him, touching his pale fingers to the gold-turning black at his tips- and was out the window before Pitch could comprehend what happened.

He watched helplessly as the black sand changed the dream, making it into her worst nightmare, her family disappearing and leaving her alone. She frantically looked around before she started running in a random direction.

She groaned and twisted around in her bed, a frown appearing on her face.

Another sound came from the crib, and Pitch saw that the boy had awakened and was looking around with a lost look. A cry came from the child, and Pitch was grateful to see the nightmare break as the girl woke up at the sound. She shivered and rubbed at her arms, standing up and walking over to the crib and lifting the baby out.

"Shh, hey calm down, I'm right here Pat."

Pitch deemed it safe to leave, she would calm the boy down and fall back into a peaceful slumber, and he was going to insure she would.

He left, leaving a frost pattern in his wake upon the window, and directed the wind to carry him in-between the buildings. He locked onto the moving shadow, and brought it down with a blast of powerful wind, knocking him into the side of a hotel and to the ground.

Pitch landed gracefully in the alley Jack had dropped into, the latter giving a gasp and quickly scrambling to his feet a wolf fearling appearing by his side as he stuck his staff out, a mass of shadows clustering at the top.

"I-I told you! An entities got to do what an entities got to do!"

"Do you not have a scrap of mercy anywhere inside your black heart?!"

Bright-fearing-yellow eyes were wide in panic.

"I-It's all I know how to do! You should be the one asking yourself that, attacking as I-I go about doing what I was meant to do-"

"And there are lines that are made to not be crossed."

" . . . No child i-is safe. You of all of us should know that."

The fearling howled and leapt at Pitch, him hitting it aside and freezing it to the brick wall, making enough of a distraction for Jack to melt into shadows and disappear into the night.

\----------------------------

Tanya awoke to the psychedelic sound of a song on the radio, groggily sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. Despite the nightmare, something she'd scarily gotten used to, that had been the best sleep she'd gotten in a while.

She stood up and went to get Patrick out of his crib, bouncing him slightly as she wandered over to the window, studying the frost covering the window.

"Hmm. . . that's weird. This is the third day in a row I've seen some kind of frost design on here." she wondered aloud, watching as her baby brother reached out to graze his fingers against the window, squealing as he drew it back from the cold.

Frost never usually did what happened on her bedroom window, but she liked it.

Helped her believe that somebody was watching out for her.


	2. A Shadow's Musings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has been around for a long time, but never has he come across a person like Jamie Bennett.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are gonna hate me for the end of this chapter. Also apology in advance, there's an awko-taco space towards the end, just pretend it's not there pls.

He'd always been known for fear. Even in his past life it was evident. He'd been the odd one out of his village, running around at night, always trying to scare those laying in bed or travelers journeying through the forest. Nobody had liked him, his parents just barely tolerated it, and this led to being alone too much in his younger years. The only one he had loved more than anybody was his younger sister. She would always scold him and his tricks, and most of the village thought poorly of her because she was always with her 'troublesome brother, getting a sweet girl like her into messes' but at the end of the day they were brother and sister, and that had been all he'd cared about.

He loathed that he had left her with those people.

One night he had been truly foolish, he'd come up with a nasty trick that he'd believed at the time _had_   to be done.

He couldn't remember very well the whole thing, the most to be remembered was that it involved the lake that he found solitude in from everyone else, and in the end he'd killed himself, falling through the ice and drowning.

Thrashing around in the cold, he'd never felt more scared in his life.

Then he was born out through the hole he'd made, looking up at the moon, and just barely heard the words that were his name.

Though the lake still scared him so, it was a place he could never leave, for many reasons.

All circling around a boy.

The boys name was Jamie Bennett, a bright young boy of nine with eyes that shone with belief. Many a time he'd huddle up by the lake, through all seasons, poring over books and journals, making many excursions through the trees, all to find proof of yetis and fairies, giant rabbit tracks and and the gritty stuff that stuck to your eyes after a good rest, any and every thing that could prove all the mythilogical creatures out there, from Sandman to a leprachaun.

One reason was that the boy reminded him of Mary, his dear sister. The hair, the eyes, even the face; all reminders of the one person he cared for. He used to just stare at him, hidden safely high in the branches, trying to fool himself into thinking that Mary was in Jamie's place.

Another reason was that _he saw him_. If it weren't for the boy seeing the shadow, he probably wouldn't have been so obsessed with proving that other spirits existed. 

He still questioned how the child had seen him in the first place. . .

_. f . l . a . s . h . b . a . c . k . "_

_How are you doing that?"_

_Unsuspecting noise alone caught him off guard, but such a young voice shocked him even more._

_He practically fell flat on his face, scrambling to his feet and whirled around, staff at the ready to face the intruder, only to stare in shock at whom had spoken. It was a boy that frequented his grave often, not that the child knew of that, but he came often enough that Jack had started to wonder who the child was, and wonder why he reminded him of somebody long ago._

_The child was startled for a second, before he shyly asked,_

_"I'm sorry I scared you, are you alright?"_

_The shadow blinked owlishly, before dropping his stance,_

_"Y-Y-You see me?"_

_He cautiously took a step towards him,_

_"Can-Can you hear me?"_

_Without thinking he was WAY up closer to the child, noses barely two inches apart._

_"_ Do you believe in me? _"_

_The boy stared wide-eyed at Jack for a moment, before he smiled and nodded._

_"Of course. . . but I don't know your name though." The child frowned, eyebrows burrowing in thought in an attempt to remember the shadow's name, only to be jolted at a hand roughly grabbing his shoulder._

_"Black. . . J-Jack Black."_

_He tilted his head, looking into the bright yellow eyes before him._

_"Like. . . the Boogeyman?"_

_". . . Yeah, you could say that."_

_. f . l . a . s . h . b . a . c . k ._

. . . whether it had been the doings of the Moon or merely Fate, he always found himself thanking somebeing for the belief of the child.

The thought brought him to his last reasoning as to why he couldn't leave the boy, because despite Jamie seeing him- _he felt no fear from the boy_.

He'd ponder once, twice, thrice, numerous times over on the matter; nobody could believe him and have no fear. It was comparable to believing in the Tooth Fairy and yet have no teeth, believing in North and yet never recieve a present.

**It just didn't make sense.**

Jack was pulled from his musing when he heard the sound of crunching leaves. He was sitting on a low branch, and could easily see that the believing- _but fearless_ \- child was returning, nose buried in a book about another mythical creature.

He simply leaned back and let gravity pull him down, leaving him hanging upside down by his knees on the branch.

"That looks interesting."

Jamie looked up with a start, smiling when he saw the familiar face.

"Yeah it is, it's all about sightings of Big Foot! He was last sighted in Michigan, which is like, _super_ close!"

The shadow smiled at the excitement in the child's voice, frowning again when he remembered what he'd been thinking about prior to Jamie's arrival.

"Jamie, can I ask you something?"

The boy nodded as the spirit dropped from the branch, landing on his feet, and followed after him.  Jack fidgeted with his staff, afraid to ask it, but after having gnawed at it in his brain for months on end, he was willing to risk the possibility of Jamie realizing how silly it was to believe in something he didn't feel.

"You see me, b-but. . . you know I'm the Boogeyman. . . a-and what does the Boogeyman do?"

Jamie looked up at him, quirking an eyebrow.

"You scare people."

"Right, but. . . I don't f-feel it from you."

Jamie's eyebrows quirked up in confusion, closing his book and taking a step closer towards Jack.

"Feel? Feel wh-?"

" _Fear_."

Everything seemed to stop the moment he said that, the wind died and the leaves grew quiet, the late ice stopped creaking and the birds went silent, almost in anticipation of what was to transpire.

" . . . I-In my entire time of knowing you, I've n-never felt the slightest bit of fear come from you."

He turned to watch the boy, boring into him with his bright eyes.

"Why is that?"

Jamie looked at Jack, and he smiled. Smiled a smile that said ' _wow-was-that-what-was-eating-at-you? '_  And he simply said,

"I believe in you, I'm just not afraid of you."

\----------------------------

Jack would come to regret the actions he took that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> . . . What'd I tell ya?


	3. A Spirits Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone had hurt Jamie Bennett, it was only a matter of who-or what-and why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I-I honestly don't know how you are going to react to this chapter express your thoughts? Also fancharacter oops hehe she doesn't play a big role so nbd also a quick something I'd like to explain- To me Jack Black has a really bad stutter whenever he gets scared, I just thought of it as a nice quirk to give him, also gives off more of an impression that he's a kid, since kids stutter a bit when in trouble and such. . . I don't know it made sense in my head TAKE I OR LEAVE IT AND JUST READ

All spirits were connected to children. It didn't matter if you were a Guardian of Childhood or not, all children mattered to you. They were the reason they all existed-each individual light needed something to believe in, and make them happy and protect from the harshness of the world, at least until they were ready and transferred into adulthood. And some were lucky to still matter in the child's life once they had grown up, whether they were a favorite holiday or a story that would be passed on for generations to come, a child was very much valued by all Guardians, spirits, even the Moon.

So it was no surprise that when Pitch felt a sharp pain in his chest, he automatically went to the nearest spirit, Anna Fall-the seasonal spirit of Fall; she cooled the air from the humidity of summer and gently touched leaves and changed them to beautiful colors-all in preparation for Pitch to come along and bring winter with him. Anna had been having fun with a child, having the Wind blow leaves around for the small tyke to chase after, and was standing still, with a hand to her chest, when Pitch reached her. They both shared a glance and knew they had both felt it, allowing the Wind to carry them off, too in shock from that shot of pain to speak any further.

As far as any of them had known, the feeling was a new experience. It was not akin to the pain of falling and skinning a knee or getting a cut on your finger. It was a pain you felt when you know you let somebody down;  _when you didn't protect them._

They both touched down where the Wind brought them; Burgess, Pennsylvania. They found themselves in front of a house, an ambulance in the driveway with lights flashing. Not a moment later a stretcher came from the backyard, and the two seasonal spirits gasped at who lay there.

Many cuts littered the boy's body, and bruises were starting to form on his face, and they both felt a lurch in their stomach when they saw the unnatural angle his right arm was in.

Pitch felt Anna turn away, a hand to her mouth, while he tightened the grip on his staff. He could understand how shocking this must be to her, she was fairly new still-just ten years into her immortality-which was nothing compared to the centuries he'd endured and all the sights he'd seen.

He carefully placed a hand on her shoulder, which she immediately waved away.

"I-I'll be fine, just-not what I had been expecting."

They both watched as the child was loaded into the vehicle, the sounds of doors slamming close and a shrill siren filling the air for a minute before silence fell again.

Neither said anything-what more was there to say?

Someone had hurt Jamie Bennett, it was only a matter of who- _or what -_ did the deed, and  _why?_

Pitch walked forward, enough to see through the backyard that had been left open, and saw the forest in the back. Through the shade of the foliage, he could see bright, yellow, eyes peeking out. The owner of the eyes made eye contact with him, and panic and fear quickly filled the brightness before they dissappeared, and a dart of black shot off into the transitioning sky.

Pitch's gut lurched when he came to the realization that he now knew who had done it.

A light burst in the sky, and he looked up to see North's sleigh coming out of it, on a beeline to following the shadow.

The wind picked Pitch up into the air, and he felt Anna fly up besides him, and they took off after the sleigh.

It was a total of twenty minutes before they got a sign of where the culprit was. It was hard, considering how much darker it had become-it was well into the evening before Pitch noticed a streak of black and shot a blast of frost towards it, a scream echoing in the night along with the sounds of a tumble into a ditch. The Wind gently set him and Anna down, the sleigh following not too long after. Other spirits of old, the Groundhog and leprechauns, other seasonal spirits and other holidays, even Mother Nature-a friend of Pitch's- had made the trip to watch.

To watch the trial of the Boogeyman.

North and Bunny walked towards the trapped shadow, being stuck to the ground at his leg thanks to the winter spirit, who only struggled more in attempts to escape.

"Pl-Please n-n-no I-I-I-I-I did-didn't m-mean t-o I-I'M S-SO-SORRY NO-O PLE-PLEASE!"

He was roughly grabbed and yanked to his feet, ice shattering, and Pitch never felt sorrier for the poor spirit. He was shaking head to toe, his yellow eyes were wide in panic and fear, and his chest was heaving from all the previous running he did, leading up to where they were now.

He was held in place by the two Guardians, and he struggled in a desperate hope of escaping and hiding again, screaming how sorry he was and how he hadn't meant to do that to the child and for everybody to stop staring at him like he had _killed_ someone, and was only brought to a hush when a bright light descended on everyone, seemingly laying a blanket of calm on the hectic chaos taking place before the Moon.

**Jack**

The shadow flinched as if he had been hit, turning his face up towards the moon, a small whimper escaping his lips.

**I will give you this one chance to explain yourself. It will not lessen or add to the punishment to be inflicted upon you, there is no escaping that. I know I speak for everyone present when I ask this. What? What was it dark shadow that made you riled up enough to harm the child?**

Pitch winced as he watched Jack go from stuttering out what had happened in a blind panic-how he had gotten angry because the boy believed in him yet held no fear of him and lashed out blindly at the foliage surrounding the lake until he directed the anger unto the child-to dissolving into a mess of _sorry_ and _didn't mean to_  and _please forgive me_  between heart wrenching sobs.

Pitch wanted to look away, away from the breaking sight and the inevitable punishment to come, but the entity of winter wasn't granted that luxury.

**For the crime you have committed, Jack Black, you are to be put into solitary confinement for four moons, and you are on probation and have possibility of being removed of your powers and given a mortal life should you so much as go near a child with the sliver of an intent to feed any growing fear for three moons.**

The shadow stared at the ground, but nodded at the words said.

**Pitch Frost, if you would set up the confinement.**

He shut his eyes closed for a moment, knowing that it was neither a question nor a request. It was an order he had to carry out.

North and Aster stepped away as he stepped forward, stopping a few feet short of the slouched over spirit. Tired yellow eyes looked up, past black hair and hood, and Pitch hates how much of a stone cold face he had to put up. There was no mercy to be shown to him. Jack had violated the one code that all spirits-good and bad-upheld.

_Never bring physical harm unto a child._

He raised his staff and slammed it into the ground, a dome of glass forming in an instant around the shadow. The ice was thick enough to last the time Man in Moon had appointed, and opaque enough for him not to see anything but his own reflection inside-not even the Moon or the Sun or the stars could pierce through it.

He was as utterly alone as anybody could get.

Every one made their way out of the ditch; Pitch having to get some help from Anna due to how much power was used to form the ice, and watched as Man in Moon created a type of fake cover over the ditch. Should anybody of mortality pass by, all they would see when looking in was an empty ditch, and even the spirits themselves couldn't see the dome of ice now either.

**I pray that everyone has learned from this, and that such actions shall not be taken in the future.**

Everybody nodded grimly, each leaving to their duties, trying to forget the cries of the shadow and try to feel no sympathy towards him.

No mercy is shown to anybody that purposefully harms a child.


	4. Just an Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been months since he escaped the crushing silence. . . and he needs to see the child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I just took the ACT and it's literally just me, one other student, and a substitute teacher, might as well update this.

It had been months since Jack had last seen Jamie, and he had a good reason to. He'd done something unspeakable, he'd been so looked down upon the past year by the Guardians, all other spirits, and even the Man in the Moon for the crime that he'd done.

The silence was deafening, and he knew a minute more of it and he'd lose his mind for sure.

Which is why now he'd gotten up the nerve to venture near the Bennett home. He was scared of what he'd see- how bad was Jamie now? Had he gotten better or worse? It had only been a few weeks since he felt fear from the household- radiating from Jamie's mother in worry of her son getting hurt again- and he had only just felt it then because while in confinement, everything had been cut off from him.

He didn't blame the mother. He hated the idea of the poor boy being hurt- _then why had he done what he did in the first place?_

He stepped out of the shadows that the fences made from the late afternoon sun, outside of the property of the house. He fidgeted with his staff, hearing the sounds of laughter from the other side. He hated feeling so afraid; afraid of seeing the child and the rebuttal of the actions he was attempting to make. Since the accident, he knew some kind of spirit was keeping an eye on him- whether it was one of the Guardians or a tiny sprite of spring, they'd have no hesitation to go report it to the head honcho; Man in Moon.

He tried to reason with himself, if there was anybody watching him he would've known by now- another action they would not fear taking was attacking him and dragging him back to the suffering silence he'd had to endure. He shuddered at the thought, and finally got the courage to balance on top of his staff and look over the fence.

He took in a shuddering breath when he saw Jamie, running around and playing as if he hadn't been hurt at all-

_-because he'd thrown the boy around, smacking him into trees as he screeched and yelled about the insanity of believing in him_ _**and yet not fearing him** _ _and oh how he'd remembered hearing that arm snap in half and the screams coming from the child as he slashed at him and cut his face leaving patches of blood everywhere and that demented sick joy he'd gotten from finally seeing the_ _**pain** _ _and pure and utter_ _**fear in the boys eyes** _ _-_

"Jack?"

Jack yelped and lost balance, falling to the ground. He scrambled back up, grabbing his staff and hurrying to disappear, and all too quickly the fence gate opened up and the child was staring at the shadow.

_And even after all that transpired, there was still no fear in those innocent eyes._

Jack was caught like a deer in headlights, and stuttered words kept leaving his mouth that made no coherent sentence and he didn't want to hurt the boy didn't want to face that screaming silence again but then Jamie ran up to him and  _hugged him._

He froze up and held his arms away from the child because he was afraid of hurting him again and the arms pressing into his back was only scaring him more because he felt what he'd done to him and he couldn't shove the other away because  _he knew he was going to hurt him again_  and thankful the boy pulled away to look him right in the eyes.

"I thought I'd never see you again, I was hoping you'd come see me at the hospital, and then I was wondering if I'd have to come find you-and I tried to! I looked by the pond for a week but I never saw you there, so I thought you didn't want to see me again-"

" _Why?_ "

Jack tried to calm down his erratic breathing, looking down, to the side, and back up to Jamie.

"I-I-I h-hurt you, are-aren't you even sc-scared a bit?"

The boy shook his head no, and the shadow gulped before he asked,

"Then  _why_?"

Jamie winced, rubbing a hand over the previously broken arm before shrugging and saying.

"It was just an accident, and I guess it was alright for you to be kind of angry-you know having me believe in you and not be afraid of you-kind of like if my Mom paid for a pizza but never got it. It makes sense. And you were hitting the trees before, I just probably got in the way or something, it's kind of hard to remember now."

Jack winced at that-he had tried releasing his anger at the trees before harming the boy, but Jamie hadn't accidentally been in the way of his nightmare sand.

 _He'd purposefully attacked him, for not fearing him, screaming at the child how he should fear him because he was Jack Black-The Boogieman-and he'd hated how he had smirked down at the battered and bruised child and whispered to him 'So, Jamie,_ are you afraid of the Boogieman _?'_

He hastily stood up, backing away from him.

"I-I better go, pr-probably in enough tr-trouble coming and s-seeing you."

He turned to go, but was stopped by a small hand tugging at the back of his black hoodie, and hesitantly looked over his shoulder.

"I'll see you again. . . right?"

Hopeful brown eyes stared at uneasy yellow ones, and the shadow found himself nodding.

Jamie smiled and waved goodbye, going back into the safety of the fences at the call of his mother, and Jack felt jittery until he was miles away from the child-thanking and cursing whatever magical entity had blessed and tortured him with a fearless believer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this marks the end of what chapters I had that I wanted transfered over to here. I'm always open to any ideas you, fellow readers, have! Just comment below and I'll see what I can do :)


	5. Cry for Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sick of what he must do, Jack attempts to make things change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there guys! This chapter was inspired by a prompt sent to me on FF.net, I've worked on it throughout my spare time and I just now finished it!
> 
> Again prompts and idea are ALWAYS appreciated, and very much needed. So never hesitate to suggest :)
> 
> I'll generally be happy with anything as long as it isn't any form of hate. That I will have a problem with.
> 
> Happy reading!

The Moon shone down onto the land, with as much it could do in its waning phase, making the water on a familiar pond shine and glisten. The forest the pond resided in was silent, but not a peaceful one, or even a tense one at that. It was a sobering silence; one that came after someone suffering with depression got home after a tiring day and wanted nothing more than to fade away. In this case, Jack was that someone.

Jack sat curled up on rocks surrounding the pond, doing the one thing that he hated but always came back to, like an addiction. Thinking.

He thought of a lot of things, like of what to do next or who the next person he’d be giving a nightmare to, and those things were fine. It was when he started to think about how things could be different, or even better for him, that he hated the most. At the moment he wanted to think of nothing, especially after the last person he’d have to give a nightmare.

Paul was twenty-two and majoring in graphic design, and when Jack had dropped in the poor guy had fallen asleep at his desk in the hopes of finishing up a project for his classes. When he’d sent the stream of black sand, he hadn’t expected to see what he saw. He’d expected some nightmare involving those popular horror games everybody was playing, or even something about him appearing in class with no pants, but of course it was the exact opposite, far opposite, of what he had expected.

He’d forced himself to watch as the black sand turned into Paul reliving a memory, when he was seven and being touched then raped by his then eighteen-year-old female babysitter. Paul had sweated and tossed and screamed and Jack left with sorrys leaving his lips at a mile-a-minute.

Jack finally got the courage to sit up and stare up at the Moon, breathing heavy with some indescribable emotion in an effort to keep the tears at his eyes from falling, and asked Manny the one thing he’d ever ask throughout his three hundred years of immortality.

“Why?”

Moon only continued to provide what little light it could give. Jack’s eyes hardened as he stood up and glared at this acclaimed ‘Leader’, snapping at it,

“Why did you do this to me?! You should’ve known I was not meant for something like this! I-I hadn’t even finished puberty when you yanked me from this pond! I’m sick of it!”

He stopped and panted, still glaring at Manny as he reached a revelation.

“I’m sick of doing this to people, giving them nightmares and making them relive horrible things, like-like Paul! I made him remember when he was raped by somebody who was supposed to take care of him, and because of all the years you forced me to do all this, I-I couldn’t even muster the ability to even _attempt_ to help him! A-A-And I’m tired of the few people who can see me, being _terrified_ of me! _It’s not fair!_ ”

He paused again, still clinging to some vain hope that Manny would finally talk to him, but when no response came he only glowered and hissed out,

“I was only sixteen when I died. . . and you forced me to scare people, and n-now it’s all I know what to do. . . but really, you have no control.”

He nimbly started to jump from rock to rock, to the highest one to try and put himself closer to the Moon,

“Since obviously you’re not going to do anything to help. . . I’ll help myself.”

He glared at Manny a moment longer, to really let it sink in. For Manny or himself, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he was taking his fate into his own hands.

 

 ------------------------------------ 

 

Pitch smiled in content at the falling snow, keeping an eye on some Russian children playing around in it. He was only stopping by in Moscow for a brief moment, and was going to fly off on his way to a meeting with the Guardians. It was nothing of trivial matters, just a meeting where North wanted to hear from everyone, it was still something he had yet to get used to. Nonetheless he enjoyed them, in fact that was his overall attitude with being chosen as a Guardian.

He waved at the leaving children, and turned to leave. Then he was jumping back in shock at suddenly finding the ‘Boogeyman’ standing behind him, stock still and a white-knuckled grip on his staff.

Pitch blinked and flexed his hand around his own staff, preparing himself for fight or flight, preferably the latter. But he was shocked when Jack put down his hood, he usually kept it up to stay in shadow, but now Pitch could fully see the mop of onyx hair and bright yellow eyes standing out against the boy’s ashen-like skin.

Jack continued to stare at the ground for a while longer before he made eye contact with Pitch. Pitch’s heart twisted at the expression on the young boy’s face, one of worry and apprehension and a feeble hope of something, and found himself smiling as he asked,

“Good to see you Jack. Did you need something from me?”

The shadow jumped slightly at being addressed, and fidgeted with his staff some more, but kept eye contact as he shakily responded,

“I-I-I wanted to a-ask you something.”

Pitch nodded, stepping up closer and motioning for Jack to follow him, and started to walk off. He did this in hopes of easing the shadow, and to ensure that should things take a turn for the worst the nearby population wouldn’t be affected.

They walked in silence for a while, until Jack blurted out,

“I want to be a Guardian.”

The Guardian stopped in his tracks, staring straight ahead before looking down to Jack. Jack only stared back with his bright eyes, scared but determined for an answer. Pitch had to take a few seconds to process what he said and blink before he found words.

“Be a. . . Guardian? Jack you must understand you do not just _choose_ to be a Guardian, you have to-“

“I don’t care.”

“. . . You have to earn it Jack. It is not just a title, it is an-“

“ _I said I don’t care._ ”

 “Being a Guardian is an honor, and a hard one to achieve. You cannot just walk in and demand to be-“

“I’m sick of it!”

Pitch stopped and stared at Jack, not having expected the other to snap like that. Jack was now breathing heavily and looking at him with a look of hurt.

“I’m sick of scaring people, of people fearing me, I never wanted that! _I just want to belong!”_

Pitch frowned and sighed, offering a hand out to the boy.

“You were unlucky to get such a position of power, and I am sorry for that. But demanding to become a Guardian will not do anything to help.”

Jack ignored what he said, finally turning away and stating crisply,

“If you’re not going to help, I’ll do it myself.”

With that Jack broke out into a run and disappeared into a shadow casting off from the foliage of a tree.

Pitch cursed under his breath and quickly took out one of North’s snow globes, figuring flying wouldn’t be fast enough. He shook it and called out for North’s workshop and threw it. The globe burst in the air into a portal, and Pitch jumped through it, seeing nothing but sparkles and light swirling colors before landing in North’s globe room, the giant globe with the twinkling lights turning slowly before him.

“There you are Pitch, we were starting to get worried-“

Pitch jumped and perched on the railing, head sweeping around at everywhere shadows were. He felt rude for ignoring Toothiana, but he had to make sure he’d beaten Jack.

“Something wrong mate? You look a bit hurried.”

After he was reassured that he’d beaten the shadow, he turned to his other fellow Guardians to address them quickly.

“I was in Russia doing my duties, but then Jack approached and said he wanted to be made into a Guardian.”

The reactions were immediate. Tooth’s feathers fluffed up in shock, Sandy started shaping and re-shaping his sand faster than even Tooth could be able to decipher, North called out to his workers to secure the workshop, ensure that the spirit couldn’t get in, and Bunny went into a ranting rage.

“ _Jack Black?!_ He’s the last spirit Manny would ever consider to be made a Guardian, what kinda drongo is he, he’s got a Buckley’s chance for anything even _similar_ like that to happen to ‘im-!”

Pitch held up his hands in an effort to calm everyone down.

“Stop, please! He is confused and lonely and just wants a chance for something better, though it is a very far reach for him. I tried to explain that it does not work that way, then he disappeared and I assume it was to-“

The lights flickered for a moment, effectively making everybody pause in their actions and start to look around frantically, searching for the shadow.

Suddenly Bunny threw a boomerang towards the staircases, and from the shadows Jack dodged the weapon, stumbling and tripping on the carpet. His head shot up to look at them as he scrambled to stand up, clutching his staff and warily holding it in a defensive stance.

“I-I guess P-Pitch told you why I’m h-here.”

Bunny stomped up to the boy without hesitation, catching the boomerang he’d previously thrown.

“Bloody damn right you are, and it ain’t happenin’. Now get o-“

“Please I have to! I have to prove to him that I can do it!” Jack backed away and hurriedly pointed up to the Moon through the ceiling hatch, whom had seemingly just arrived to view this spectacle.

Tooth frowned and zipped up behind Bunnymund, placing a hand on his shoulder to ease him back, casting a sorry glance at Jack.

“We’re sorry, no amount of want or need will help you. Besides, Manny is the one that chooses-“

Jack’s eyes widened in panic, and he frantically started to stutter out,

“D-D-Don’t you have a-an oath or so-something?! _Anything?!”_

“We do.” North stepped up to the child and solemnly looked down at him.

“But, only to induct whoever has been chosen by Man in Moon, and has proved their right to become a Guardian.”

Jack frantically looked between everyone, trying to find some hint of ‘Yes you can’ or even something of acceptance, but only found downcast eyes.

He swallowed and bit his tongue, trying to push back the ebbing tears, and came to a decision.

“Fine then.”

Everybody finally looked up; just in time to watch Jack pull back up his hood, his eyes piercing out from the shadows the fabric made.

“Might as well go do the only thing I’ll ever do.”

What was worrying was the tone his voice had when he spoke, coming off more as a firm statement; with a threatening promise hidden in it. In a flash he was gone, and Pitch suddenly realized what the distraught spirit would do. Without another word he jumped and called for the Wind, which blew in through the ceiling hatch and carried him out immediately, and asked his companion to follow after that shadow.

 

 

 

Jack appeared at a random street, somewhere in Italy, and immediately called up fearlings, and commanded them to hunt and scare every person on the cobblestoned road. Once they bolted off he disappeared again to another random street and did the same thing again, and again on the next street, and again, and again, and again.

The nightmares the fearlings were leaving were unspeakable horrors, of the Guardians portrayed in a negative light, the icons everyone knew and love were distorted to ugly creatures, and that was just what the Boogeyman wanted.

_If he couldn’t be granted his one wish, he’d make them all suffer._

When he appeared onto another random street, before he could repeat his process a cold blast of wind knocked him down. Before he could stand up the hand grasping his staff was frozen to the ground, and he looked up to see Pitch standing there, looking more menacing than he’d ever seen.

“We told you. Repeatedly. You cannot be a Guardian.”

Jacks eyes widened and he started to scrape at the binding ice in vain, only for Pitch to approach and break the ice himself, grabbing Jack by his hood and lifting him to his eye level.

“You have gone too far. Leave. Never take such foolish actions again. Are we clear?”

Jack nodded the best he could through his hyperventilating. The Guardian dropped him, and the shadow took in deep breaths, mentally calling off the fearlings in his mind.

He bolted before he got hurt again.

 

\------------------------------------ 

 

The Moon continued to shine onto the pond as the cries of a lonely shadow went unheard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestion: from Kadge-Rose-Feather on FF.net
> 
> "Jack's sick of only being able to make people have nightmares and sick of people being afraid of him. He finds Pitch and asks to join the guardians, but Pitch tells him that the moon picks the guardians and it isn't that simple. Jack heartbroken and in anger tries to go and make some kids have nightmares but Pitch stops him none-too-gently."


End file.
